Tim
Marketing Director
Direct | 408.213.4668
1101 S. Winchester Blvd, J-225
San Jose, CA 95128
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More marketing advice can be found on our featured Tip Of The Week Archive page.
by Andy Coffaro
PropertyMinderMarketing
You’ve got your email list of leads. Some are folks you’ve sold to in the past while others you met standing in line for your morning Starbucks.
No matter how you attain it, a lead is a lead is a lead.
One of the best marketing strategies to stay top of mind with your leads and increase the odds of doing business with them is through email newsletters.
But are you sure you’re employing the best strategies before sending them out?
If not, here’s how.
Test Your Email Subject Lines
Perhaps one of the more enjoyable aspects of sending out email newsletters is figuring out what resonates with your readers. What compels them to engage with your content? What are the powerful words you can string together that causes them to take a desired action?
It all starts with your email subject lines. Think about it: If your email is never opened, all the marketing strategies in the world won’t matter.
It may take some experimenting to figure out what works. Maybe your audience enjoys humor and wit, or perhaps they want subject lines featuring data points. There’s no perfect way to write an email subject line so experiment and find out.
Here are some creative examples from the men’s digital lifestyle brand, The Thrillist. They are short, to the point, and make you wonder what’s waiting inside the email.
Pizza ice cream? How could you not open that? And notice they used all caps for “PIZZA” so the word stands out even more.
Take chances and be creative.
Same Time, Same Day
People are creatures of habit: wake up in the morning, brush teeth, make coffee, turn on the news, check Facebook, etc. Half the time they aren’t even conscious of what they’re doing.
When possible, send your email newsletter around the same time on the same day. You will condition your audience to expect to hear from you.
80/20 Rule
We talked about this before for social media, but it applies here as well: 80% of the content in your email newsletter should be just engaging, entertaining, and enlightening information.
Save the other 20% for content meant to drive sales, which could include calls to action that send readers to your website.
Be Fun and Casual
Speak in a friendly tone. Use contractions (e.g. “aren’t” instead of “are not”). Write in short choppy sentences. Use bullet points. Embed a video you hosted on YouTube.
Again, be creative, but most importantly of all, write to your audience the way you would chat with them casually in public. You will still come off as an authority so long as the content you present is accurate, relevant, and actionable.
Unsubscribe Link
Always provide an unsubscribe link at the bottom of your email newsletter.
Don’t take it personally if people unsubscribe. There are those that simply don’t want email newsletters no matter how solid they might be.
And make it a one-click action. Don’t force people to enter their name and email address to unsubscribe. That’s an easy way to leave a poor impression.
By taking advantage of these simple email newsletter tips, you should see open rates go up, unsubscribes go down, and your leads transform from lukewarm to sizzling-hot.
More marketing advice can be found on our featured Tip Of The Week Archive webpages.
Below are featured (and sometimes overlooked) holidays in January, providing you with specific reasons to reach out, engage with your leads and clients, and be THAT (memorable) agent folks turn to when they’re ready to buy, sell, and refer.
January 1st: New Year’s Day – check your CRM for a greeting to send to leads and clients.
Friday, January 6th: Cuddle Up Day – deliver info that your buyers and sellers can cuddle up with today, to peruse and/or read (i.e. – exciting property photos/details, and home values & home care resources, respectively).
Friday, January 13th: Friday the 13th / International Skeptics Day / Make Your Dream Come True Day: – banish any superstitious bad luck, prove to skeptical folks you’re the neighborhood expert, and make clients (and your) dreams come true.
Monday, January 16th: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday – share a quote with folks, today.
Tuesday, January 24th: Compliment Day – whether it’s a literal compliment (i.e. – “You’re a generous individual and I appreciate your time.” / “You have a beautiful home/familiy, etc.”) or a listing alert for a buyer that complements what they’re looking for, or home care resources that will complement the home life of your homeowners (your sellers) – pay a compliment, a complement or two.
Wednesday, January 25th: Opposite Day – do the opposite of what the competition does – put in the time to reach out to folks over the phone. We’ve provided seller scripts and open house follow-up scripts to help guide those important conversations.
Food-Oriented Holidays – see accompanying email greeting, below – simply fill-in-the-blank, press send, and spark a conversation (and possible meet and greet):
Wednesday, January 4th: National Spaghetti Day
Thursday, January 19th: National Popcorn Day
Friday, January 20th: National Buttercrunch Day / National Cheese Lover Day
Sunday, January 22nd: National Blonde Brownie Day
Monday, January 23rd: National Pie Day
Friday, January 27th: Chocolate Cake Day
Hi there,
____, here. You’ve been so generous with your time this year. I’d like to express my gratitude.
*DATE is *HOLIDAY and I’d really like to celebrate it with you.
This way we can catch up over a delightful snack (on me) instead of just texting and emailing. My schedule is pretty flexible – let me know what works best for you and I’ll schedule something in a jiffy.
[Insert SELLERS or BUYERS target segment here].
SELLERS:
[While I’m at it, I’ll bring along some printed home values and home care resources as extra food for thought (no pun intended). I like to consider myself your one-stop shop for all things real estate. I hope you will, too].
BUYERS:
[While I’m at it, I’ll bring printed details about homes and properties that might be up your alley. I’ve been doing some extra research for you and would love your feedback to confirm whether or not I’m on the right track].
Looking forward to it!
_______________
Hey there,
Tim here. What’s new?
Heads up: Wednesday, December 21st marks both Winter Solstice (shortest day and longest night of the year) AND Look on the Bright Side Day.
Coincidence? I think not.
Your leads and clients will be deprived of extra daylight, which might make them extra cranky – especially if it’s chilly out.
So, what can you do to brighten their day?
You’re not God. You can’t manipulate the sun.
But you can provide a special type of brightness (the best and only kind that truly matters) by…
…enlightening sellers with automated home values proving you’re the expert…
…shining the spotlight on exciting and matching properties (including HD Photos) for your buyers…
…providing everyone with the essential home care resources needed to maximize their comfortability on this (and many other) long winter night(s).
Cozy up to folks. It’ll pay off.
The holidays are definitely revving up. Enjoy yourself, connect with people, drive safe, and let me know if there’s anything you need help with as we gear up for the New Year.
Tim
Director of Marketing
408.213.4668
tim@propertyminder.com
More marketing advice can be found on our featured
Tip Of The Week Archive & Current Tip Of The Week webpages.
We’ve once again taken the liberty of highlighting a few special (and sometimes overlooked) holidays in December as reasons to reach out, engage with your leads and clients, and be THAT (memorable) agent folks turn to when they’re ready to buy, sell, and refer.
-Wednesday, December 21st: Winter Solstice – shortest day and longest night of the year – remind folks you have all their home care resources this winter!
– Saturday, December 25th: Christmas Day – log in to your CRM for the latest greeting we’ve written for you.
– Sunday, December 25th: Hanukkah – log in to your CRM for the latest greeting we’ve written for you.
– Thursday, December 31st: New Year’s Eve – log in to your CRM for the latest greeting we’ve written for you.
Honorable Mentions:
– Monday, December 12th: Pointsettia Day
– Wednesday, December 21st: Look On The Bright Side Day – brighten someone’s day by sending home values to your sellers, property details (including HD Photos) to buyers,
Food-Oriented Holidays – see accompanying email greeting, below – simply fill-in-the-blank, press send, and spark a conversation (and possible meet and greet):
– Sunday, December 4th: National Cookie Day
– Thursday, December 8th: National Brownie Day
– Friday, December 9th: National Pastry Day
– Thursday, December 15th: National Lemon Cupcake Day
– Friday, December 16th: National Chocolate Covered Anything Day
– Saturday, December 17th: National Maple Syrup Day
Hi there,
____, here. You’ve been so generous with your time this year. I’d like to express my gratitude.
*DATE is *HOLIDAY and I’d really like to celebrate it with you.
This way we can catch up over a delightful snack (on me) instead of just texting and emailing. My schedule is pretty flexible – let me know what works best for you and I’ll schedule something in a jiffy.
[Insert SELLERS or BUYERS target segment here].
SELLERS:
[While I’m at it, I’ll bring along some printed home values andhome care resources as extra food for thought (no pun intended). I like to consider myself your one-stop shop for all things real estate. I hope you will, too].
BUYERS:
[While I’m at it, I’ll bring printed details about homes and properties that might be up your alley. I’ve been doing some extra research for you and would love your feedback to confirm whether or not I’m on the right track].
Looking forward to it!
_______________
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